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The Sangam Period poetess said: “Koyil illa ooril kudiyirukka vendaam” (Don’t live in a place, where there is no temple). Maavittapuram is a holy village, and the famous Maviddapuram Kanthaswamy Kovil is situated in 30-acre red soil in the Vali North Pradesheeya Sabha of the Jaffna District.
“Maavittapuram in Tamil means ‘Ma’ (Horse), ‘Vitta’ (Removed) and ‘Puram’ (Holy City). The Chola princess, Maaruthapuraveegavalli, daughter of Thissai Ukkirasinga Cholan, King of the Chola regime in South India, was cursed by a sage when he was in penance. She, along with her friends, laughed and disturbed his penance. The particular sage, with a horse face, cursed Maaruthapuraveegavalli’s face to be turned into a horse face. If she wanted her human face back, she had to travel to Sri Lanka’s North, have a bath at the Keerimalai sacred springs and worship Lord Murugan. Accordingly, she travelled from South India to Jaffna, had a holy bath in the Keerimalai sacred springs and worshipped Lord Murugan. The horse face of Maaruthapuraveegavalli changed into a human face. She presented a Lord Murugan statue and requested her father to build a temple for thanksgiving.
“As per his daughter’s request, King Thissai Ukkirasinga Cholan built a temple in 789 AD. This place was called Kovil Kadavai at that time and was changed to Maavittapuram after the miracle. Maavittapuram and Keerimalai are inseparable,” says the Governing Authority and Chief High Priest of Maavittapuram Kanthaswamy temple, Maharajasri D.S. Ratnasabapathy Kurukkal, quoting the Thiruchenthur Puranam.
The original temple had four temple towers facing four directions and five outer routes or paths. The original Maavittapuram Kanthaswamy temple was destroyed by the Portuguese during 1700-1800, and rebuilt by the British.
The temple is situated near the Palaly airport, Kaankesanthurai harbour and cement factory. It is an agricultural area with red, fertile soil where betel, banana, mango, jackfruit and tobacco were cultivated.
During the height of the Tiger Terrorist activity, the Maavittapuram area was declared a High-Security Zone in 1990 and inaccessible to the public. For this reason, the temple survived the war with minimum damage to buildings. After the liberation operation of the Sri Lankan army, this temple is again flourishing and accessible to the public.
Ceylon Today
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Map of Maviddapuram Kanthaswamy Kovil
The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites
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Travel Directions to Maviddapuram Kanthaswamy Kovil
Jaffna can be reached through two principal routes. The most commonly used approach is via Elephant Pass, which has long served as the traditional gateway to the Jaffna Peninsula.
An alternative route reaches Jaffna from the direction of Pooneryn by crossing the Sangupiddy Bridge. This crossing follows what was historically the ancient route to the peninsula before the construction of modern highways. The route provides a connection between Jaffna and the Mannar region.
| Route 01 from Colombo to Jaffna Through Kurunegala (Popular Route) | Route 02 from Colombo to Jaffna Through Puttalam and Pooneryn (Lesser Traveled Route) |
| Through : Kurunegala – Dambulla – Anuradhapura – Vavuniya Distance: 410 km Travel Time: 7-8 hours Driving Directions: see on Google Maps. | Through: Puttalam – Thantirimale – Mannar – Poonaryn Distance: 408 km Travel Time: 8 hours Driving Directions: see on Google Maps. |
| Route from Jaffna to Maviddapuram Kanthaswamy Kovil |
| Distance : 18km Travel time : 20 minutes. Driving directions : see on google map |
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